Necessity Quotes (6)

A rock or stone is not a subject that, of itself, may interest a philosopher to study; but, when he comes to see the necessity of those hard bodies, in the constitution of this earth, or for the permanency of the land on which we dwell, and when he finds that there are means wisely provided for the renovation of this necessary decaying part, as well as that of every other, he then, with pleasure, contemplates this manifestation of design, and thus connects the mineral system of this earth with that by which the heavenly bodies are made to move perpetually in their orbits.
Theory of the Earth, with Proofs and l1lustrations, Vol. 1 (1795), 276.
See also:  |  Body (12)  |  Decay (2)  |  Earth (57)  |  Geology (86)  |  Mineral (12)  |  Orbit (10)  |  Philosopher (21)  |  Planet (17)  |  Rock (15)  |  Study (13)

All things happen by virtue of necessity.
Diogenes Laertius IX, 45. Trans. R. D. Hicks (1925), Vol. 2, 455.

The doctrine called Philosophical Necessity is simply this: that, given the motives which are present to an individual's mind, and given likewise the character and disposition of the individual, the manner in which he will act might be unerringly inferred: that if we knew the person thoroughly, and knew all the inducements which are acting upon him, we could foretell his conduct with as much certainty as we can predict any physical event.
A System of Logic, Ratiocinative and Inductive (1858), 522.

The ideal of the supreme being is nothing but a regulative principle of reason which directs us to look upon all connection in the world as if it originated from an all-sufficient necessary cause.
Critique of Pure Reason (1781), trans. Norman Kemp Smith (1929), 517.
See also:  |  Cause (26)  |  Connection (2)  |  God (76)  |  Ideal (3)  |  Reason (30)

This is what writers mean when they say that the notion of cause involves the idea of necessity. If there be any meaning which confessedly belongs to the term necessity, it is unconditionalness. That which is necessary, that which must be, means that which will be, whatever supposition we may make in regard to all other things.
A System of Logic, Ratiocinative and Inductive (1858), 203.

TO MY WIFE-who made the writing of my previous book a pleasure and writing of the present one a necessity.
Boranes in Organic Chemistry (1972), dedication.
See also:  |  Book (30)  |  Wife (2)

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Original words on great scientific discoveries.
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I have little patience with scientists who take a board of wood, look for its thinnest part and drill a great number of holes where drilling is easy. --Albert Einstein
I try to identify myself with the atoms...I ask what I would do if I were a carbon atom or a sodium atom. --Linus Pauling




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